How It Could've Been
by Through Darkness and Light
Summary: HIATUS How would it have been if Naruto had run away from Konoha as a child and encountered Itachi on his way and what would it be like if he went back after 9 years? Sasunaru and some sidepairings
1. The Beginning

**_[__Edit: 02-09-2009]_  
Disclaimer: Naruto characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto.  
****This is a SasuNaru fic, Yaoi or Boylove. Don't like? Then don't read and no flames!  
**"..." Talking  
_"..." Thinking_

'...' Kyuubi in Naruto's head

**"..." Kyuubi speaking**  
**  


* * *

**

A small boy runs into the Uchiha Compound with tears rolling down his cheeks. He had run away from his village, everyone hated him; he could see it in their eyes and glares. They had chased him until he had found his way here. Nobody except the Uchihas came here, so he knew he was safe. He couldn't understand what was wrong with him, he was just a normal 7 year old boy. Naruto stopped by an alleyway. His tears dropped one by one onto the pavement as he sighed.

It was the question he was always asking himself. Why was everyone so mean, and why the adults wouldn't let him play with their children? He never found a way to understand how he could be so different. It slowly got darker and Naruto crawled into a small cardboard box and fell asleep.

When he woke up later that night he was surprised to hear someone run past the alleyway. The boy slowly crawled from the cardboard box and looked around. Whoever it was, they were gone now. Naruto then began walking up through the streets and stumbled upon a house.

"_Maybe the people that live here will be nice enough to give me something to eat..."_ He walked towards the front door but when he knocked the door opened a little. Cautiously he walked into the house.

"Hello?! Is anyone home?" Naruto walked into the living room and stopped in his tracks when he saw a man and a woman lying on the floor in a puddle of blood.

Suddenly someone grabbed him from behind and he gasped when they placed their hand on his mouth and told him to be quiet and that everything would be alright. The hand moved away from his mouth and Naruto quickly turned around to look at the person behind him.

He had to look up because the person was very tall. He had dark black hair and black eyes that seemed to stare into his soul. The small boy stumbled and fell to the floor. The man kneeled down and smiled a bit.

"My name is Itachi, what's yours?" Itachi held out his hand and Naruto shook it.

"I'm Naruto."

Itachi helped him stand up and looked at the man and woman on the floor. "They're my parents, someone killed them and I want revenge." Itachi commented while smirking down at Naruto.

The small boy shivered and stared up at the man and wondered what had happened.

They walked out of the house and Itachi gave Naruto something to eat, which he gratefully ate. He smiled, this man was just like the big brother he never had. Later they made their way out of the Uchiha compound, which Naruto saw was littered with bodies to the village gates. Just when he started to walk back towards his apartment he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"Why don't we stick together? It doesn't seem like you have anyone to go back to." Naruto grinned and nodded. Itachi was fascinated at how enthusiastic the small boy was. He picked the boy up and let him sit on his shoulders. He then started to walk away with a gleeful boy sitting on his shoulders.

* * *

_9 years later_

Naruto groaned when his alarm clock went off at 6:15 in the morning. He quickly shut it off and groaned more when he saw someone had tried to be funny again.

"_Whoever changed the time on my alarm is going to die"_ he thought as he got out of bed and walked towards the bathroom where he took a nice hot shower.

It wasn't that bad that someone had done that, he could take a shower in peace. Most of the times everyone was knocking on the door demanding him to hurry up. Just because they were almost all older than him he didn't listen to anyone except Itachi.

Just when he wanted to get out someone started bonking on the door.

"Whoever is in there has to get out NOW! " Naruto sighed, he hated Kisame he was always bossing him around and teasing him. He quickly got out and walked past Kisame who glared at the blond haired boy. Naruto simply ignored it and went to his room.

About 10 minutes later he came out of his room fully dressed in a black robe with red colored clouds. It was the trademark clothing of the Akatsuki, a group of people he and Itachi had joined. Itachi had always been like a brother to Naruto ever since they had met. He made his way outside but stopped when someone ran past him followed by Deidara.

"Tobi give that back to me this instant!"

Scowling Naruto walked on further and sat down by his favorite tree. Everything was quiet and the Akatuski were staying 'low' for a while as Kisame stated. He leaned against the trunk and closed his eyes, but his peace was quickly disturbed by Deidara and Tobi.

"No Tobi is a good boy!"

Having enough of all the commotion Naruto tripped Tobi when he ran past. He fell with his face first on the ground and Deidara grabbed a piece of parchment from his hands. He thanked Naruto and went back to the house. Tobi stood up and Naruto stared at him. He had an orange mask with one hole so he could see through it with one eye. He huffed and walked away leaving Naruto alone.

Sighing Naruto leaned back against the trunk and closed his eyes again, hoping to not be disturbed this time. He thought back to when he was still living in Konoha. How life would have been if he had stayed there, probably like it had been when he was a little boy.

Since he learned Itachi he learned more about himself and why he was hated by nearly everyone in Konoha. He had discovered that a demon called Kyuubi was sealed in him, Kyuubi had terrorized the village and the Hokage of the time had sealed him in Naruto. He was glad he had left, he was much happier with his life nowadays.

'_Come on kit let's go do something fun!' _Naruto growled and shook his head. Ever since he found out about Kyuubi it seemed like the demon had awakened and from time to time communicated with Naruto in his thoughts.

'_You're boring kit why can't we do anything fun?!' _He stood up and made his way back to the house.

"Point 1, because I don't feel like it and point 2, I don't like you calling me kit."

Kyuubi was silent from that moment on and Naruto made his way back to his room. Later someone knocked on his door and came into his room.

"Good evening Itachi" Naruto greeted him as he walked towards him. The man nodded and asked Naruto to come with him. He got up from his bed and followed Itachi towards a room where meetings were always held.

"Ok let's get to business" Kisame smirked when Itachi and Naruto sat down. They started talking about a new mission and that the needed two members to take care of it. Everyone stayed quiet.

"Well someone's gotta do it." Kisame growled at them.

"Fine I'll do it, it's kinda boring here anyway, and now that that's done I'll be in my room."

Naruto stood up and left the room, with Kisame shouting after him to come back. He looked at Itachi who didn't even mind that the boy had left. He then asked Deidara to go with Naruto. Deidara accepted and everyone left the room except Itachi and Kisame.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to let Naruto go Itachi?"

Itachi looked up and glanced at Kisame.

"It's risky, seeing that the villagers might recognize him but I asked Deidara to go with him to act as his 'brother'. Everyone will only think he's the boy containing Kyuubi but all know he doesn't have any family anymore. They will also get a new name to bear."

Kisame kept silent and watched Itachi leave the room who made his way back towards Naruto's room. He let himself in and sat down. Naruto was staring out of the window and asked him what he wanted. Itachi told Naruto where he was going to and the names he and Deidara were supposed to use.

The boy listened carefully and growled when he heard what he had gotten himself into.

"But look out for Sasuke, you'll probably recognize him yourself" Naruto nodded and Itachi handed him a bundle of orange and black clothes. "You'll have to wear these; no one must know you're part of the Akatuski."

Handing the clothes to Naruto, Itachi left leaving the boy alone.

'_So we're going back to Konoha eh? Hopefully it will be time for revenge kit.' _Sighing Naruto studied the clothes. "_Revenge would be sweet Kyuubi, but that isn't my mission." _He could hear the demon scowl at him but ignored it. He went to bed and soon fell asleep. He was going to have a long day.

* * *

Naruto and Deidara left early the next morning with everything they needed and their other clothes. "Let's hope we get there soon hey Kenji?" Deidara asked smirking at his new 'brother'.

"I don't hope we'll get there soon Keitaro. I hate Konoha" They had travelled a day and a night before they say the city limits of Konoha.

'_Welcome home kit'_ Naruto looked over the village and sighed. Konoha hadn't ever really been his true home. Everyone had hated him, and probably still did. Kyuubi couldn't understand that seeing he had been in a deep slumber until Naruto discovered him and his chakra. Naruto used a henge to make his whisker marks disappear before they reached the city gates.

They slowly walked in the village and Naruto couldn't help but see all the people stare at him. Some probably recognized him a little as someone threw a broken glass at him, which he caught with ease. Dropping it he glared at the people who had thrown it and growled. If he was still the boy he was 9 years ago he would have run away and cried. But he wasn't like he was back then.

Two men walked towards him and smirked. "So the demon finally came back. Isn't that just peachy?" Naruto watched them circle him and smirked back at them.

"I don't know what you're talking about; this is the first time I've ever been here. Now step aside before I hurt you."

The two men looked at one another, with confusion written across their faces when Naruto and Deidara walked right past them. One shrugged saying it was probably just a mistake. By nightfall they had made it to the house Naruto had been living in before he left Konoha, he knew no one would ever enter the house because he had lived there and went inside with Deidara.

It didn't surprise him to see everything still like he had left it. He let Deidara get some groceries while he cleaned everything up and settled himself back in. After a while he looked triumphantly at what he had accomplished and one of his rare smiles appeared on his face.

'_Ah little Naruto finally did something useful.' _

His smile immediately vanished and changed into a frown. "_You know Kyuubi you're getting very irritating!" _He could hear the demon chuckle and feel him smirking.

'_You should get used to it, you're stuck with me the rest of your life!' _Kyuubi started laughing but soon faded away leaving Naruto alone with his thoughts again.

Deidara came back a few minutes later and they ate together in silence before they retired to their beds. It was supposed to be a 'big' day for Naruto, Itachi had been able to arrange getting him into a team where he would be able to train and seem like a normal boy wanting to become a ninja.

* * *

Naruto left extra early the next morning to train before he had to go meet his new team. He wasn't really looking forward to it; he had to hide some of his skills because Itachi had signed him in as a new trainee. After practicing for 2 hours he made his way to a big oak tree where he was to train with others. Naruto jumped into the tree and awaited their arrival.

It didn't take long before a girl approached the tree. She had pink hair and green eyes and seemed pepped up for the day. A few minutes later a man appeared, he was holding a book and had grey hair. "Kakashi-sensei! Have you seen Sasuke yet?" The man Naruto know knew as Kakashi shook his head.

"He'll be here soon, he never come too late."

As if he was heard a boy with raven hair approached the tree. Naruto knew exactly who he was. He knew that Itachi's brother would be in the village but he didn't know he was in the same team as him. When Sasuke got closer Kakashi told them someone new would be joining the team. The girl grinned and clapped her hands.

"Oh then I hope it'll be another girl! I get tired of hanging around only boys." She said.

Naruto smirked; it was time for his entrance.

"Well I guess you'll be disappointed 'cause I happen to be a boy." The girl and Sasuke looked around but Kakashi looked up in the tree. "Come down please" Naruto jumped out of the tree and landed next to Kakashi.

The girl immediately ran to him and shook his hand. Disgusted he pulled it away and turned to Kakashi. He introduced himself as Kenji and Kakashi in turn introduced him to Sasuke and the girl, Sakura. Naruto didn't like Sakura, way too hyper and he hated her hair color. But Sasuke interested him; he was quiet like his brother and only glared at Naruto who stuck his tongue out at him.

They then started to train and Naruto was quickly bored, but kept on acting like he was having fun. Kakashi was teaching them to use Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Sakura was struggling with it but when Kakashi asked Naruto to try it he did it perfectly. It was a jutsu he had learned years before. When the day ended Naruto was happy it was over and made his way back to his house.

To his disappointment Sakura ran after him and asked if he wanted to join her and Sasuke to get something to eat.

"No, now leave me alone." Naruto walked further and Sakura stopped in her tracks and crossed her arms.

"What a hot head." She said as Sasuke approached. He only watched Kenji walk away and didn't listen to Sakura.

After he got home Naruto sat down on his bed and sighed. He wasn't planning on becoming friends with these people. Deidara came into the room and greeted him, Naruto only shrugged when he asked how his day was. His first day had been incredibly boring and he was glad he didn't have to meet his team again.

Late that night Naruto left the village and went to the forest to train more for himself.

He stopped when he heard twigs snap behind him and he growled. He waited a few seconds until another twig snapped and jumped in that direction. He was surprised when he saw he had jumped on Sasuke.

"What are you doing here?!" Naruto snarled as he got off of the raven haired boy.

"I just wanted to ask you the same question. It doesn't look like you're a newbie. You seem good enough to at least be a Chunnin." Again Naruto snarled and stated he had already had some lessons but not enough to be as good as Sasuke said he was.

He then left without saying goodbye and made his way back to the village.

'_Oh kit is mad_!' Kyuubi snickered and Naruto told him to shut up, he wasn't in the mood for anything anymore. Sasuke stayed where he was and thought about the new kid, there was something different about him and Sasuke was determined to find out what it was no matter what.

* * *

**I changed it a little so don't freak out if it's different! xD Review and make me happy!! ^^**


	2. Life In Konoha

**_[Edit: 02-09-2009]_  
Hey guys, it's the second chapter! Thanks for the reviews and hope you will enjoy this one too.  
****Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto, though I wish I did  
"..." Talking  
_"..." Thinking_

'...' Kyuubi in Naruto's head

**"..." Kyuubi speaking**

* * *

Naruto slammed the door shut when he got to his house and heard Deidara fall off his bed. He then stomped upstairs and lay down on his bed as Deidara slowly stood up.

"What happened?" Naruto glared at his 'sibling' and sighed.

"I was training in the forest when Sasuke saw me." Deidara paused for a moment while he was thinking.

"Who's Sasuke?"

"Itachi's little brother…" Deidara stared at Naruto with a stunned expression.

They were silent until Deidara fell asleep again and started to snore. Naruto almost cracked of frustration but managed to keep his cool. He would be able to train the next day in peace, at least that's what he hoped. After a while he too fell asleep.

Deidara woke Naruto this time and told him it was almost noon. He yawned and stretched and grabbed an apple downstairs.

"I'm going to see if I can do something without being disturbed!" Naruto left the house slamming the door again and made his way through the village. He had almost made it to the gates when he was stopped by someone screeching his other name.

"Kenji wait!" He slowly turned around only to see Sakura and a few others run his way. His right eye twitched as they crowded around him. Sakura introduced him to everyone she had taken with her and he acted pleased to meet them all. He also noticed Sasuke was at the back of the group.

'_Look kit it's that Uchiha kid again.' _Naruto nodded in reply as if he was in a trance but that was quickly broken by Sakura who grabbed his arm and started to drag him back into the village. She started talking about a restaurant they had to go to because their food was the best in the whole village. Just as he wanted to try and get out of her grip she stopped in front of a building. He lost his balance and fell down.

Snarling he stood up and glared at Sakura who was grinning at him and walked into the building. He wanted to turn around and leave but some of the others dragged him inside. They sat down at a table while Sakura went to order some food. She came back a few minutes later with bowls of ramen. Naruto stared at the bowl and felt like barfing. It didn't really looked that edible at all and he had just eaten an apple before they caught up to him

Disgusted he watched the others gobble theirs up but also noticed Sasuke didn't have a bowl at all.

"You gonna eat that?" A boy with swirls on his cheeks asked Naruto who hurriedly shook his head and passed the bowl to Chouji, as Sakura called him. He could feel someone watching him and groaned when he saw Deidara come into the restaurant.

He ran over to the table where Naruto and the others were sitting and was panting as if he had been running all over the place.

"Na- uh Kenji you have to come with me, we have to do something!" Naruto almost sighed of relief as he stood up and said goodbye to everyone. They quickly left the restaurant and Naruto smirked and thanked Deidara for getting him out of there. The other man only shrugged.

It was no problem at all he stated. "I could see you were miserable there so I got you out of there."

Naruto smiled a little as they walked towards the forest at the edge of the village. They trained together and Deidara left after a while to take care of some things and Naruto stayed to train some more for himself. Deidara didn't see him until later that night when he came dizzily into the room.

Naruto was swaying from one side to another before he fell face first onto the ground. Deidara ran to him and gasped when he saw Naruto. His hair was a complete mess and his face was covered in pick and red lipstick kisses.

"Wow kid looks like the girls love you." Naruto slowly opened his eyes again and jumped up.

He quickly ran to the kitchen and washed his face. He groaned as he sat down on the ground again and Deidara asked what he happened. He explained that after he had finished training and walked back into the village he was overrun and nearly torn apart. Deidara couldn't help but laugh at Naruto whose glare silenced him again.

Over the next few days everything was relaxed but Naruto was still bored and longed to do something he wanted to do and be able to be himself again. The chance luckily came when he was by himself in the forest. Some bandits surrounded him and told him to give everything he had or his life. Naruto of course only smirked and grabbed a kunai and threw it at the man who had approached him.

The other bandits watched in shock as their leader fall down with a kunai right between his eyes. They lunged at Naruto who easily dodge them and fought back. He suddenly disappeared and the bandits were panicking. One bandit looked behind him and screamed and Naruto jumped on top of him. The few that were left stared at him as he growled like a wild beast.

They then ran away leaving Naruto, their leader and 2 others behind. Naruto only grinned as he pushed one of the dead bandits away with his foot.

'_That was the most fun I've had in a long while!' _Naruto laughed and started walking back towards Konoha.

"I haven't either Kyuubi that I really enjoyed." He stopped for a second and ran back to the dead leader.

He grabbed his kunai and pulled it out of the man head and wiped the blood off. "_That's mine_." And he made his way back to Konoha, little did he know someone had been watching him and stepped out of the shadows. Sasuke looked down at the corpses and frowned.

Why did this guy kill them, he could have just evaded them or at least shake them up enough that they would go away.

Something about this new kid bothered Sasuke and he followed Naruto. Just as he saw the gates of the village Naruto stopped and looked around, he sensed he was being followed and jumped into a tree. A few seconds later Sasuke stopped right under that tree and looked around looking for Naruto.

Before he knew what had happened Sasuke was lying on the ground with Naruto on top of him. The blond snarled at the raven beneath him and commanded him to tell him why he was following him.

"Why are you following me?!"

"I saw what you did to those bandits!" Sasuke snapped at him, Naruto only smirked and got off of Sasuke. "Try to follow me one more time, and you'll regret ever meeting me."

He turned to face Sasuke again who gasped when he saw Naruto's eyes turn red and then back to his original blue eyes. Then he vanished. Sasuke cautiously stood up and looked around, the Naruto he had seen had only been a clone. There was something about this boy that worried Sasuke, he couldn't help but wonder if what he had seen was only an illusion.

Confused he walked into the village where he was greeted by Sakura and Ino who told him they had seen Kenji run by and how good he looked. He only sighed and ran towards the house he knew Kenji or whoever he was, was living in. As he approached the house he saw a blond speck in the window and he knocked on the door.

Deidara opened the door and was surprised to see Itachi's little brother standing in front of him.

"Hello, what's the matter?" He asked politely

"I was wondering if Kenji was around."

"He hasn't come home yet, do you want me to tell him you came by?" Sasuke shook his head and turned to walk away. As he watched him walk away Deidara told Naruto the coast was clear and watched the boy jumped up from behind a closet.

"I can't believe that little meddler followed me home! I'll have to find a way to shut him up." Naruto paced around the room and Deidara asked what had happened. He nodded when Naruto told him and advised him to never kill someone in the time that they were still in Konoha. Naruto grumbled and stomped his way upstairs. He would have his fun with Sasuke that night.

* * *

At about 3 in the morning Naruto snuck out of his house and made his way to Sasuke's. Someone stopped him and he could smell the person was drunk, he pushed him aside and jumped onto the roof of the house. He silently opened a window and leapt into the hallway.

'_Well kit I never knew it would get this far that you would break into his house.' _Naruto shushed Kyuubi and opened the door to Sasuke's bedroom.

To his surprise there was no one in the bed and he shouted when someone grabbed him from behind. Sasuke had heard him come in and had waited until he was in plain sight. He turned Naruto around so he faced him and shouted at him.

"What do you want from me?! Who are you and what do you know?"

Naruto started laughing and smirked at the sight of Sasuke in his pajamas. "Don't we look pretty tonight?" Sasuke growled and pinned Naruto to the floor, the boy merely waited as Sasuke tried to catch his breath. Naruto then moved his face upwards and placed his lips on Sasuke's, who fell backwards from the shock and in turn got pinned down by Naruto.

"Well look at this sight, the hunter became the prey." Sasuke opened his mouth to say something but stopped when Naruto placed his finger on his lips.

"Sssshh we mustn't wake up your neighbors, what would they think seeing me here at this time of night?" Naruto smirked as Sasuke tried to squirm from under him.

He then leaned forward until their faces were only a few centimeters apart. He moved to the right and licked Sasuke's ear lobe. He could feel him shiver from under him and grinned. "If you tell anyone, and I mean anyone what you've seen and what happened just now. Trust me, you and your friends will pay the price."

Looking back down at Sasuke he stood up and waved as he left through the window. He quickly made his way back to the house he was staying in and slid back into his bed, hardly making any sounds and fell asleep with a grin on his face.

The next day Naruto made his way to the big oak tree and spotted Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke waiting for him by the trunk. Sakura happily greeted him but he ignored that. He watched Sasuke's eyes follow his every step and he knew that his message had gone through to his thick head. Kakashi actually taught him something new that day and after that he left with Sakura and Sasuke.

He surprised himself when he felt himself grinning while he was talking with Sakura; he had to stay in Konoha for at least another 2 weeks, maybe even longer and thought it wouldn't be so bad to have some friends as people called them. Sasuke walked behind the two and hated the thought that Kenji was a fake. He was certain that that wasn't even his real name.

To his relief Naruto left after a while saying he had things to attend to; Sasuke had to stop himself from laughing at him. Naruto saw that and said goodbye to Sakura, grabbing her hand and placing a kiss on it. She blushed and turned away. Naruto walked away and made a gesture to Sasuke and mouthed 'I'll be watching you'

'_Whahaha! You really shook him up didn't you?' _Naruto smiled and nodded at the demons comment. It wouldn't take long until he had him under his full control, a puppet as Sasori always called it. He made his way to the forest and started training himself again. It didn't surprise him when Sasuke came out from behind a few trees.

"Ah coming to visit me?" He watched Sasuke glare at him and took one small step at a time towards him. The raven haired boy followed him with his eyes and when he got close enough he grabbed Naruto's collar. Naruto only smirked and looked deep into Sasuke's eyes.

"You don't want me to kiss you again do you?" All he saw was pain and sorrow; it didn't surprise him knowing what had happened in his youth.

Sasuke didn't move a muscle when Naruto threatened to kiss him again; he wasn't planning on letting that happen anyway. He was caught off guard when Naruto stomped on his foot and shouted in pain. Naruto leaned forward and took advantage of Sasuke shock. His tongue plunged into Sasuke mouth as he started kissing him.

The other didn't even try to push Naruto away and kissed him back. As he felt Naruto's tongue run over his own he moaned in pleasure. Naruto was actually enjoying it but broke the kiss and smirked at Sasuke again, who was in total shock.

Well I guess you enjoyed it didn't you?" He leaned forward again and whispered something in Sasuke's ear.

"I know I did." Naruto walked away and left Sasuke alone who was just starting to come out of his shock. He snarled when he thought how Naruto had used him for his own pleasure, but he couldn't deny what he had said. Sasuke flushed when he thought about the kiss again and slowly made his way back to the village. He would make the blond pay for playing with him.

It was quiet again for the next few days and Sasuke avoided Naruto as much as he could. It was hard, he started hanging out with Sakura and some of the others and they kept coming to Sasuke asking him to join them. He passed on all their invitations and received a few glares from Naruto. It had surprised him Sasuke hadn't come to him yet.

'_Come on kit why can't we have some fun with him again?' _Kyuubi snarled as Sasuke walked away. "_Let him be, he won't be a problem anymore."_ Naruto smiled softly and Sakura looked up at him. She wasn't used to seeing a smile on Naruto's face and was starting to like it a lot.

That night when Naruto got home Deidara greeted him like he usually did. They were getting used to life in Konoha and it didn't matter how much they wanted to go back home, they were to stay until Itachi or one of the others tell them that they could come back. Deidara was doing all the work while Naruto only acted as cover for him.

They were talking when they heard someone knock on the door. Deidara opened the door and was surprised when he was pushed aside by people that ran by him and towards Naruto who gulped when he saw them.

"H-hi guys what are you doing here at this time?" Sakura only smiled and said they came to visit him.

To his surprise Sasuke was standing next to her. Even though he looked uncomfortable. Deidara said he was going out and said goodbye to Naruto leaving him alone with the others.

'_Wow kit these kids really like you!'_ Naruto sighed, Kyuubi was right. It was probably going to be a long night.

* * *

**Again the changes!  
Yup, it's the second chapter already! ^^  
Hope you guys like, please review!  
**


	3. The Truth

**_[Edit: 02-09-2009]_  
OMG already the third chapter!  
Hope you guys enjoy =3  
****Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, though I wish I did..  
**"..." Talking  
_"..." Thinking_

_'...' Kyuubi in Naruto's head_

**"..." Kyuubi speaking**

* * *

Naruto was happy when Sakura suggested they could go take a walk outside. He quickly nodded and made his way to the door. Deidara waved at Naruto who looked a little grumpy; when everyone was outside he shut the door. He quietly followed the group, all of them joking and pushing each other playfully.

They made their way towards the center of the village and sat down by a tree. Ino and Tenten were whispering while the others were shouting and Naruto was sure he was going to get a headache before the nights end.

"I know let's play truth or dare!" Sakura jumped up and everyone nodded as Naruto watched in disgust.

"Oh I want to start!" Chouji shouted.

Sakura shook her head and told him that because it was her idea she was allowed to start. Everyone calmed down and waited until Sakura asked Naruto, who answered truth.

"Uhm, let me think… What is your deepest, darkest secret?" Some girls oohed as Naruto sighed. He was never going to tell them who he really was. Suddenly it hit him.

"Ok my deepest, darkest secret eh? I'm sorry girls" Naruto smirked and hoped that they would finally get off his back. "But I'm gay." Several groans were heard and some boys started looking uncomfortable.

It was true and no one questioned him to his relief. The game went on for a few more turns. It was Sasuke's turn and Tenten dared him to kiss Naruto, on his lips.

This time groans of disgust were heard from the boys and the girls glared at Tenten. Sasuke looked next to him and studied Naruto, he knew the boy would enjoy it he had seen and felt that before. He leaned forward and quickly pecked his lips. Tenten started clapping and giggled again when Sasuke blushed.

Hinata looked up at the sky and jumped up. "Uh guys, it's getting late we should be getting back." Some nodded and everyone stood up and made their way back. But along the way they were stopped by a group of men.

"Lookie, lookie what I found." One of the men circled around Naruto and studied head to toe.

He walked back to his friends and whispered something in their ears. They all started laughing and Hinata tugged Naruto's shirt asking if they could go further. He nodded and started to walk away when a wine bottle was thrown at his head. It shattered and Sakura gasped and ducked. Naruto quickly turned around and snarled at the laughing men.

"That's right that's where we know you from!" One of the men pointed at him and nudged his neighbor who nodded.

"Of course! You're that demon kid right?!" Naruto felt his insides begin to boil. The others behind him started whispering and he could hear some say that it couldn't be true.

One of the men stepped forward. He was tall and had big muscles and easily looked down at the children.

"I remember that we chased you into the Uchiha compound the night the clan was massacred!" He looked around at his smirking friends and then back at Naruto who was looking angrier every second. "We thought Itachi had killed you along with the rest."

That was it, Naruto shouted and a force was pushed forward and the men flew backwards banging into trash cans and other things.

"Shut up you asses! YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT HIM!" Naruto ran away and the others watched in confusion, why he reacted like that. Without anyone noticing Sasuke ran after Naruto who had stopped at an old building.

He walked up to the blond and placed his hand on one of his shoulders. Naruto quickly turned around and grabbed Sasuke's wrist. A single tear ran over his cheek as he slowly released his grip on Sasuke's wrist.

"So that's who you are, why did you leave?" Naruto looked up and opened his mouth to say something but stopped.

His sadness immediately disappeared as he grabbed Sasuke's collar and growled. He looked around and spotted a well. Naruto dragged Sasuke towards it and threw him in it, lucky for him the well was almost filled up to the top. Sasuke sputtered as he reached the surface again, only to see Naruto run away at the sight of the others running towards the well.

"Sasuke what happened? Why did Kenji freak out, he can't be **him** right?" Sakura helped Sasuke out of the well and he coughed, he knew he couldn't tell them.

"I don't think so; if he was he wouldn't have come back right?" Sakura slowly nodded and she and the others helped him get home and gave him dry clothes.

* * *

The next morning when Naruto woke up he had no memories whatsoever of the night before. He slowly made his way towards the old oak as uninterested as always and was surprised he was the first to arrive. After waiting about 10 minutes he finally saw Kakashi come towards the tree.

"Kakashi-sensei! Where are Sakura and Sasuke?"

"Sakura's at Sasuke's house, he got very sick last night and she's treating him." Naruto stared at his sensei and said goodbye as he made his way to Sasuke's house. When he arrived he didn't waste time and ran upstairs and bumped into Hinata. She smiled at him and helped him up. He asked how Sasuke was and she showed him to his room.

As he walked in Sakura looked up and frowned at him. He wondered what he had done to make her so angry, but couldn't remember doing anything to do so.

"I'll leave you two alone; seeing it's because of you he's sick!" Sakura walked off and Naruto sat next to Sasuke's bed and watched him sleep. He had never realized how peaceful he could look, even beautiful.

After watching Sasuke for a while he slowly opened his eyes and looked at Naruto. He coughed and glared at Naruto.

'_Damn kit, you really got him sick didn't you?' _Naruto looked up and started thinking, what were Sakura and Kyuubi talking about, was it his fault Sasuke had gotten so sick. "

_I don't know what you mean fox!"_ Naruto snarled as he answered the demon. The only answer he got was soft chuckling.

Naruto looked back at Sasuke who had fallen back to sleep, the blond grabbed a wet cloth and placed it on Sasuke's forehead. He never thought he would ever feel so guilty and he didn't even remember what he did. It wasn't until after dark that he left.

Naruto kept visiting Sasuke for the rest of the week and after 5 days he recovered. Naruto made his way to Sasuke's house with a single flower in his hand he had picked from a garden. He opened the door and ran upstairs towards Sasuke's room.

"Hey pretty boy I got you a little flower and I-" Naruto stopped in his tracks and was staring at all the flowers in the room.

Sasuke came out of his closet and smiled slightly at the sight of the blond. They had become good companions during his illness and Sasuke started to trust Naruto even more.

"Impressive how many people 'care' for me huh?" Sasuke smirked as he walked over to Naruto, who was still standing in the doorway. The raven plucked the flower out of his hands and made his way downstairs.

Shocked Naruto turned around and followed him, when he reached the kitchen he saw that Sasuke had placed the flower in a tiny vase with a ribbon around it.

"I only use that for special occasions. And by the way we have to meet Kakashi and the others today at the training field." Sasuke looked over his shoulder and almost swore he saw Naruto blush.

They cleaned up a bit and brought some of the flowers of to Konoha hospital. It surprised Naruto how many small children were there, but was happy he made them glad with the flowers. One particular kid amused him. A small boy named Konohamaru actually looked up at him into his eyes and Naruto saw something in the boy he hadn't seen in other people.

"You know you have dirt on your cheeks right?" The little boy rubbed over Naruto's cheeks and started rubbing it away. Naruto yelped and fell backwards as Sasuke and Konohamaru laughed at him. For once in his lifetime, instead of running away or beginning a fight he laughed along with them and soon after said goodbye to the small boy.

The two boys then went back to Sasuke's house before the left for the training field. Sasuke wanted to open the front door when he was stopped by Naruto who placed a hand on his shoulder.

He turned around to face him and saw him smiling and even blushing.

"Thank you for today, I had a great day." Naruto leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on Sasuke's forehead and then opened the front door.

On their way to the training fields they met up with Sakura and Ino. Both immediately ran over to Sasuke and started fighting who was going to walk next to him because Naruto was already on one side. Naruto suggested they walk behind him and both girls glared at him but eventually agreed.

It didn't take long before they got there and Naruto saw some more friendly faces. Hinata, Chouji, Shikamaru and Neji greeted him as he heard Sakura groan under her breath.

"Kakashi-sensei is always late!" Sasuke only shrugged and they all started talking.

"Why are we here Sasuke?" Naruto leaned over and whispered in his ear. The reply he got was that he had to be patient.

'_Haha, Kit was silenced by someone other than Itachi, never thought I'd see that!' _Naruto growled and told Kyuubi to be quiet and stop calling him that, but the demon kept saying it over and over again and Naruto was getting angrier by the second.

"Just shut up!" Everyone around him stopped talking and stared at him; he nervously chuckled and said he had a blistering headache.

Luckily Kyuubi had stopped and Kakashi arrived a few minutes later. Everyone ran over to him and Sakura and Ino pushed Naruto toward him until he was standing in front of the Sensei.

"We have gathered here today to congratulate a fellow ninja and a good friend." Many sighs were heard from the others and Kakashi laughed.

"Just kidding! Naruto we all, want you to become a true Hidden Leaf Ninja." Kakashi took a forehead protector out of one of his pockets and handed it to Naruto, who stared at it in awe. "I... Thank you"

He smiled and Sasuke took the protector and tied it. Naruto turned around, his new forehead protector gleaming in the sunlight while everyone cheered. Suddenly an anbu appeared and whispered something in Kakashi's ear.

He nodded as the anbu left again and explained to Naruto that they were to go to the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade. Naruto nodded and Sasuke said he was going with him, nodding again they followed Kakashi to the Hokage. Naruto looked at the familiar building towering above him as they walked into it.

When they came into the office they were greeted by the Hokage. She studied Naruto as he came into the room and sighed when she saw Sasuke had come with him and Kakashi.

"So, what made you come back?" She looked at Naruto and Sasuke and Kakashi looked at each other.

"But Tsunade-sama, Kenji has only been here for a while." Sasuke was confused, not remembering what had happened a few nights before.

Tsunade laughed and glared at Naruto. "Kenji is it now, no... So Naruto host of the Nine-Tailed Fox, where have you been all these years?"

Naruto glared at the Hokage and released his henge revealing his whisker marks. He growled before he ran out of the building. Sasuke called after him, but Naruto didn't look back. Sasuke started running after him and stopped in an alley, where Naruto was surrounded by men in black and red robes.

He recognized one of them as the brother of Naruto and ran towards them.

"Naruto!" Some of the men turned around and one started laughing. Sasuke stopped when another turned around, his brother Itachi.

"Itachi! Let Naruto go!" The men all started laughing and Sasuke saw Naruto frown in the middle of their circle.

His brother stepped forward and smirked.

"Why would we give him back? He belongs with us." Sasuke shook his head and leaped forward to attack Itachi, but stopped when Naruto appeared in front of him. Jumping back Sasuke stared at him seeing he had the same robe as the others.

"Sasuke, please go home."

The other Akatsuki laughed again and one stepped forward, one with blue skin and smirked.

"Hey Uchiha better listen to your boyfriend!" Sasuke gasped as Itachi lunged forward and grabbed his collar and lifted him. Trying to get loose, Sasuke struggled and tried to kick his brother when a single voice stopped his movements.

"Itachi, let him go."

Naruto growled and Sasuke was shocked when he did put him down and coughed, gasping for breath. He couldn't remember Itachi ever listening to someone like that.

"Whatever, I don't want to have only one brother left." Sasuke slowly stood up and stared at Naruto, who was looking down.

"What's he talking about?" Naruto turned away and shook his head again. Sasuke couldn't understand it; never in his wildest dreams he thought Naruto was part of the Akatsuki.

"But you became one of us today! Y-You can't be one of them!"

Almost at the verge of tears Sasuke started losing it, everything was so confusing and he didn't know what to do about it. Naruto's hand moved up to the headband and untied it. As he stared at it he heard Sasuke run away and Kisame started chuckling.

'_Kinda disappointing seeing him run away, isn't Naruto?' _Naruto sighed as the fox started talking to him again. "_Yes it is, but this is how it's supposed to be…"

* * *

_Sasuke ran away from the alley, still not believing what he had seen and heard. As he ran through the streets he noticed he was being followed. Suddenly someone jumped in front of him and he fell down, looking up he gulped as he stared into the eyes of one of the bandits who had attack Naruto before.

"So he cares for you? Now we'll finally have revenge." The bandit smirked as he lifted Sasuke up from the ground and started chuckling as more bandits appeared.

Following Itachi and the rest of the Akatsuki, Naruto looked over Konoha one last time. Then he heard a loud scream and immediately ran back towards the village when he realized it was Sasuke, Itachi not far behind him trying to stop him. Naruto snarled when he saw the bandit holding Sasuke captive.

"I knew you'd come, you've done a good job little boy" He smirked and licked Sasuke's cheek causing Naruto to grow even angrier.

"Let him go! He has nothing to do with this!" He demanded as the rest of the Akatsuki arrived, and Kakashi a few seconds later.

He nodded and turned to look back at the bandit, who was still chuckling as Sasuke was still struggling to get loose. The two were staring each other down, and Naruto couldn't help but want to throw a kunai like he had done before. But it was too risky, there was a great chance the bandit would use Sasuke as shield.

"You have a minute to decide what you want, your life or his." Thoughts were raging through Naruto's mind; there had to be a way he could get Sasuke and himself to safety.

"Tick, tock... Looks like your time is up!" Before Naruto could react the bandit grabbed a kunai and traced it along Sasuke's arm leaving a bloody trail behind it.

"Leave him alone!" His anger grew every second and he cracked when the bandit hit Sasuke with the back of the kunai causing him to faint. He brought the kunai close to Sasuke's skin again but stopped when he heard a loud growl coming from Naruto.

"Don't you dare touch him!" An orange aura shaped like a fox surrounded him and the bandit stared at him as his eyes turned blood shot red and his canine teeth grew into fangs.

Everyone looked around when a loud voice boomed through the sky.

"_Haha! It's finally time for some action!" _Itachi twitched it wasn't the first time this had happened. He shouted at Kakashi telling him to get Sasuke out of the way and Kisame to try to get Naruto out of his demon mode before he reached the fourth tail. He turned back to Kakashi asking him if he could try to wake Sasuke up.

The jounin nodded and turned back to Sasuke. Trying furiously to wake him up before Naruto's form gained the fourth tail. It seemed that the more bandits Naruto defeated the more appeared and he was getting more and more frustrated. By the time he had reached the third tail Kakashi started panicking and finally Sasuke slowly opened his eyes again, but by the time they were fully open it was already too late, Naruto had already gained the fourth tail and a loud scream was heard and everyone flinched and covered their ears at the sound.

"**It's time to rumble!"** A loud booming voice exclaimed, it was Naruto's voice combined with another and the villagers started running out of their houses and panicking at the sight of a fox. His body was covered with a dark orange almost red glow. Many bandits ran from its sight and even the one who had threatened to kill Sasuke fled. While Kyuubi was chasing after the bandits through Konoha Sasuke finally regained enough strength to stand up and before Kakashi could stop him he went running of towards Naruto.

"Sasuke, get back here!"

He kept running ignoring his sensei's cries and also the pain he was feeling in his arm. It didn't take long before he had tracked the demon down, who was holding the leader bandit in the air. Just as it was getting ready to strike him, he turned at the sight of Sasuke and dropped the bandit. Walking in circles around Sasuke his tail flicking back and forth he started talking.

"**So you are the one my holder fancies, not bad. I've only seen you mentally, but I can see what he likes him you."**He laughed as he made his way back to the bandit.

"**You shouldn't have threatened him, now you've made us very, very mad."**He swung at the bandit but didn't have enough time to stop when Sasuke jumped in front of him and took the blow. Almost immediately the demon ran towards him. Sasuke looked up and into the eyes of the fox. Surprisingly one was becoming cerulean blue and Sasuke smiled at him.

"I know you're in there Naruto, please come back. I miss you."

The fox staggered from side to side and fell down to the ground. By the time Sasuke crawled over to him Naruto had changed back into his original self and Sasuke could see black figures run towards them. He felt that he was being picked up and watched as someone also picked up Naruto.

* * *

**Mwhahahah what will happen next?!  
Well you guys will have to wait for the next chapter ^^  
Please review! =3**


	4. Unexpected Problems

**_[Edit: 02-09-2009]  
_Thank you for your reviews Hidan's Little Riku & Care-free Kitten!  
See kiddies, reviews keep me going and helps me update more often, well duh that's with everyone I guess. Well I'll stop my chitchat and let you read! Enjoy  
_Disclaimer: I don'n own, if I did Sasuke and Naruto would've hooked up already..._**"..." Talking  
_"..." Thinking_

_'...' Kyuubi in Naruto's head_

**"..." Kyuubi speaking**

* * *

Sprinting up the stairs of the Konoha hospital, Sasuke couldn't remember ever being so excited. After everything that had happened he had laid in the hospital for a week because of his arm and it was now 5 weeks later. Kakashi had come by his house earlier that day to tell him Naruto had finally woken up. When Sasuke reached the third floor he was almost out of breath but kept running until he reached room 305. He stared at the door before slowly opening it.

When he stepped into the room he was disappointed to see that Naruto was asleep. This was better than the coma he had been in for 6 weeks. Sasuke grabbed a chair and sat next to Naruto's bed. All the tubes which had kept him alive before were now all gone because he could breath by himself again. It relieved Sasuke, the tubes had made everything seem so gloomy and without hope.

Looking down at the sleeping blond Sasuke sighed as he placed his hand on Naruto's and stroked it with his thumb. Then a nurse came into the room and smiled when she saw Sasuke. She had also kept an eye on him when he was in the hospital and he thought she was a good woman. She placed a tray of food next to Naruto's bed and left again.

As if it he had smelled the food Naruto's eyes slowly fluttered open and he looked up at the ceiling before his head turned to the side and looked at Sasuke. He started blinking at first as if he couldn't believe Sasuke was really sitting next to him and then squeezed the hand which was holding his. Sasuke responded by squeezing back and Naruto grinned.

"Sasuke! It really is you." The raven nodded and let Naruto's hand go to grab the food tray and gave it to Naruto.

After staring at the tray Naruto started eating slowly and seemed uneasy. Sasuke leaned forward and stared into Naruto's blue eyes.

"What's the matter?" The blond frowned and pushed the tray aside before he started fiddling with the bed sheets. "Do you hate me now you know what I am Sasuke?"

Sasuke laughed to Naruto's surprise and the blond shivered when he kissed his forehead.

"Of course not, dobe." Naruto frowned at the boy in front of him.

"Don't call me dobe, teme." Sasuke raised an eyebrow at Naruto's comeback and turned around when the door was flung open and Sakura, Ino, Hinata and Tenten came running into the room. Sasuke was pushed aside as the girls started asking Naruto questions about why he lied to them and if he was ok.

Hearing Naruto yelp at all the commotion Sasuke stood up and pushed the girls backwards telling them to calm down. They did and to Naruto's relief they left after a few minutes, leaving him and Sasuke alone again. Blue eyes followed him as he went to look at several flowers.

"_Get well soon dirt cheeks!_" Naruto giggled as Sasuke read the card attached to a single tiger lily. "From Konohamaru, isn't that cute?"

Sasuke ducked as a pillow came flying towards his head and turned to glare at the blond, who stuck his tongue out at him. Sasuke mumbled something about admirers as he sat back down on the chair and looked at Naruto.

There was an awkward silence that was interrupted by a nurse coming into the room and told Sasuke that visitor's hour was over and he had to leave. Naruto begged the nurse if his friend could stay longer, but she didn't give in and the two boys said goodbye to each other.

* * *

It had been a week since he had woken from his coma and Naruto was able to go back home. Sasuke came to pick him up and they talked as Sasuke pushed Naruto in a wheelchair.

"It sucks I can't walk yet." He sighed as they reached his house. Ever since that night Naruto noticed that the demon wasn't talking to him anymore.

"_I'm concerned fox, why aren't you answering?!"_ Even though he was calling him the fox still didn't respond and Naruto was really getting worried.

The fox never answered or talked back telling him to shut up. Naruto grabbed the crutches he had gotten and opened the door only to be welcomed by a group of his friends.

A few of the boys came over to shake his hand and Naruto forced a smile. He still wasn't used to so many people in one place only to greet him and welcome him home. It shocked him even more when Kiba lunged forward and hugged him, nearly losing his balance Naruto somehow managed to stay standing.

"Damn kid, you scared me there! Don't do that again, fuck I was worried." He grinned and Naruto just stared at him.

After a few moments he laughed lightly and smirked at the dog loving boy.

"Did you just call me kid?" Kiba nodded and shouted when Naruto kicked his shin. Everyone turned around as they watched Kiba kneel down on the floor in pain and Naruto watching him with an evil smirk. The silence was broken when Sasuke slapped the blonds' head who shouted in protest.

Two hours later everyone left leaving Naruto and Sasuke alone again. The raven was looking through some things when Naruto growled at him.

"How dare you slap me Uchiha?!" Sasuke only shrugged when enraged blue eyes met his onyx ones. He could hear the blond grumble something under his breath about Uchihas being stupid bastards. Raising an eyebrow Sasuke remembered how Itachi called Naruto his 'other' little brother.

He decided to let it slide as Naruto drifted off into sleep. Cursing the blond for falling asleep before he was in his room, Sasuke tried to wake him by shaking him but didn't receive any response.

Sighing Sasuke picked Naruto up bridal style and laid him on his bed. As soon as his head hit the pillow Naruto's arms flung around Sasuke's neck and pulled him onto the bed next to him. The raven gulped as he felt his face flush at the sight of Naruto's face so close to his own.

It was already nine in the evening when Sasuke tried to pry Naruto's arms off of him. Half an hour later he was still in the bed, the result of struggle had only caused Naruto to tighten his grip holding the Uchiha down. Growling Sasuke decided he would have to stay the night whether he wanted to or not. He just hoped no one would notice, but at that moment he heard laughing outside the window immediately hearing it was Kakashi.

The jounin jumped in through a window and looked down at Sasuke.

"My, you're really in quite the predicament aren't you?" Sasuke answered by throwing a glare at his sensei who only grinned and left saying he would leave the two alone, for now. Sighing he watched as Kakashi disappeared into the night, but not before he yelped as a camera flashed from the tree next to the window.

"Great, I hope he doesn't show anyone the damn picture." Because he was his sensei Sasuke knew he would use that picture to black mail the Uchiha whenever possible. Sasuke sighed once more before, he too fell asleep.

* * *

Sasuke slowly opened his eyes the next morning and yawned, suddenly stopping from not feeling the warmth of Naruto next to him anymore. Jumping up Sasuke ran downstairs only to have Naruto stare at him.

"What's the matter teme? You look like you've seen a ghost" The blond was standing in the kitchen making breakfast. Sasuke only growled and looked at Naruto.

He was already standing up by himself without crutches or any support at all.

"How are you able to walk yet? Tsunade said it would take at least 2 weeks before you could-" Naruto placed his finger on Sasuke's lips silencing him in the middle of his sentence. Smirking Naruto withdrew his finger.

"I know what she said Uchiha, I recover fast. Actually I didn't even need them yesterday. I needed something to keep me on my feet because I knew Kiba would jump me."

Naruto took a bite out of an apple as Sasuke's mouth fell open and shrugged seeing the raven so shocked. He returned to the kitchen as soon as he heard the kettle and peeked out from behind the corner asking Sasuke if he also wanted tea, Sasuke nodded absently and sat down on the couch. After finishing his tea Naruto asked if he wanted a shower and then commented that Sasuke did stink a little. The raven stood up and made his way to the bathroom.

"I'll be waiting for you!"

Smirking at the idiotic joy of Naruto Sasuke undressed and stepped into the shower. He didn't shower long and grabbed a towel to dry off. Hearing a sudden shout from the other room Sasuke opened the door slightly and pecked through the crack. Naruto was pacing in the room rambling as if he were talking to someone.

"You stupid pig headed fox! Couldn't you respond a little earlier?" A short pause as Naruto stopped in his tracks. "Hey! I was actually worried you know Kyuubi."

Sasuke gasped as he quickly closed the door, Naruto was talking to the nine-tailed fox, but Sasuke had no explanation on how. He yelped as the bathroom door flung open and fell on the floor and looked up at a smirking Naruto.

"Yup you were right fox, teme is a little nosy." Naruto leaned down and poked Sasuke's shoulder and told him to not do it again before he left the room and Sasuke quickly dressed.

Demanding an explanation Sasuke storming down the stairs and approached Naruto. The blond gladly explained he and the demon were able to contact each other in his mind and commented that it was a little crowded in his head and was glad he didn't have an alter ego or something like that.

The two left the house just after lunch and Naruto brought his crutches along to fool everyone, Sasuke only rolled his eyes as he watched the blond go over to some of their friends close to the training field.

"Akamaru and I could kick your sorry ass any day Sasuke!" Kiba pointed at the raven fuming when he said that he was weak. Sasuke responded by grabbing a kunai and suggested they spar. It wasn't long before it was over and Naruto, Ino, Sakura, Tenten and even Shino laughed as the brunet lost.

Smirking down at Kiba Sasuke helped him up and told him that he would maybe win next time. Sakura and Ino started whispering how strong he was and how no one could ever win sparring with Sasuke. Naruto smirked at the challenge and told Sasuke he would spar with him. Kiba stood in front of Naruto and told him he wasn't near strong enough yet to spar, Naruto smirked and tossed his crutches to Shino.

"Watch me dog breath."

Naruto and Sasuke stared each other down until Sasuke grabbed a few shuriken and threw towards Naruto who dodged them and suddenly disappeared. Looking around no one could see him anywhere until he appeared behind Sasuke and covered his mouth with his hand and held a kunai against his throat.

"It helps to be stealthy doesn't it?" Sasuke managed to throw Naruto off of him, but the blond had an iron grip and Sasuke fell after him. They started wrestling on the ground and the girls were cheering on Sasuke as Kiba cheered Naruto on.

Everyone stopped cheering when the two stopped and Naruto was straddling Sasuke who looked angry. "See dog breath that was easy."

Kiba stepped forward and said it was payback time, before Naruto could react Kiba kicked him and sent the blond falling forward. The girls gasped as Kiba turned around grinning proudly; he stared at them as the stood looking in shock and turned around again.

"Oh god that's wrong!"

Because he was sent flying forward so suddenly Naruto wasn't able to stop his fall and his lips and Sasuke's collided. Feeling awkward Sasuke flushed and tried to get Naruto off of him, but the blond didn't let him. Sakura screamed when she saw Naruto run his tongue over Sasuke's bottom lip and hear Sasuke moan in pleasure. Before both of the boys noticed anything Sakura and Ino came running over and pushed Naruto off of Sasuke.

"How dare you kiss him? Just because you're gay doesn't mean you have to hit on my Sasuke."

"Your Sasuke, no way Ino-pig!" The girls starting arguing and Naruto stood up with a sigh. They just had to ruin it, he mentally noted that he would have to thank Kiba as soon as the two girls left, but for the time being he would be the one to disappear. He helped Sasuke up and smirked as he waved and winked before disappearing.

"No don't leave me with them!" Sasuke pointed at Sakura and Ino who had stopped as soon as Naruto was next to Sasuke again.

Pissed off Sasuke made his way back to Naruto's house, he couldn't understand that after he had kissed him - Sasuke blushed as he thought about it again - he had left him alone with Sakura and Ino. The door flew open as Sasuke entered the blonds' house. There wasn't any response at first until the door shut behind Sasuke.

It was dark in the house and Sasuke slowly walked towards where he knew the living room was. A small desk light in the corner of the room was turned on and Naruto was sitting in an arm chair next to it staring out of a window.

"Why'd you leave me there?" Naruto looked up and shrugged as Sasuke moved closer to him.

Sasuke repeated his question again only receiving a grunt as answer. The raven groaned and kneeled in front of the blond as their eyes met. Sasuke remembered the night he had been taken hostage by that bandit and how blood red Naruto's eyes had been. He liked his blue eyes much better.

"Well, maybe you'll answer this. Why didn't you tell me how you became an Akatsuki?" He shivered as he thought of them and Naruto coughed.

"It started years ago, when I ran away from Konoha when I was 7." Naruto started telling everything about his past and it was 45 minutes later when he was done. Watching Sasuke he could see it was hard for the Uchiha to believe everything, especially when he told him about how Itachi had been the brother he never had.

"He can't be all you say!" Sasuke stood up and was shaking with anger. "You have no idea who he is! Fuck Naruto how could you be so stupid!"

He stopped shouting when Naruto stood up and started shouting back at him.

"No you know nothing! Who's been with him the last 9 years? That's even more than when you two were still 'perfect' little brothers. Let me tell you something, you have no idea how he is and you can't keep blaming him for how your pitiful life has become. So you shut the fuck up Uchiha Sasuke!"

Raising a fist Naruto punched Sasuke's jaw and he staggered backwards as his lip started to bleed. Shaking his head Sasuke looked back at the blond and glared at Naruto whose eyes darkened as he stared down at his feet. He raised his arm and pointed at the door motioning Sasuke to leave. The raven stepped forward and Naruto stomped his foot and screamed that Sasuke had to leave his house.

Not knowing what to say Sasuke made his way to the door and slammed it shut as soon as he was outside. He didn't know what to do start bawling on Naruto's doorstep or going back to his own house to release all his own anger. He decided on the last one and quickly made his way back home. Sakura was walking by as a chair flew out of a window nearing hitting her and ran off screaming.

* * *

Grabbing his bag Naruto took one last glace at the house he had been staying in, after his argument with Sasuke the night before he knew he couldn't stay. Looking down at his familiar Akatsuki robe he sighed.

'_Are we really leaving this time?'_ Naruto growled at Kyuubi._ "Yes we are, and we are never, ever coming back!"_ He had contacted Itachi the night before and the Uchiha had promised to send Deidara and Tobi to pick him up.

He made his way to the gate and made sure no one he knew saw him. He could already see Deidara and Tobi when he heard Sasuke shouting his name. Without thinking he quickened his pace and ran to Deidara and Tobi and they left immediately. Sasuke growled and quickened his pace as well and kept following Naruto. He groaned when he was thrown to the ground and looked up at Naruto.

Tobi and Deidara joined him as they looked down at the boy.

"If you dare follow me Uchiha, I swear it'll be your death!" Naruto snapped before he ran off along with the other two Akatsuki members. Enraged Sasuke stood up and punched a tree leaving a giant hole. He fell down again as tears started forming in his eyes and his hand started bleeding.

No he wasn't crying because his hand hurt, but because his heart hurt and he couldn't believe Naruto had left again. It took him a few moments to get his senses back again and stared at the figures running away from him.

"Fuck Naruto why are you leaving me! I thought I meant something to you!" He whispered the last sentence before he broke down and made his way back to Konoha. Broken hearted and confused.

* * *

**Oh dear what's gonna happen now, Poor Sasuke..  
Please review!  
I'll try and update ASAP if you guys want more!  
**

**Sasuke: Like I would act like that, way too OOC..  
Me: Well you're getting more bastardly in the next chapters, like you're supposed to be.  
Naruto: What about me! Now I'm the heartless bastard T_T  
Me: Sucks to be you *smirks*  
**


	5. A Year and A Half Later

******_[Edit: 02-09-2009]  
_**Woo chapter 5 already? We're on a roll babeh!Hope you like  
_Disclaimer: No own.. Damn that totally sucks T_T  
_"..." Talking  
_"..." Thinking_

_'...' Kyuubi in Naruto's head_

**"..." Kyuubi speaking**

* * *

Immediately after arriving back with Tobi and Deidara Naruto made his way to his room before Tobi stopped him, hugging him from behind.

"We're so very happy you're back! Right sempai?" Deidara only glanced to the side and grabbed Tobi's collar pulling him away from the other blond. Protesting Tobi tried to get loose but stopped when Itachi stood in front of him and chuckled slightly before running away.

Groaning Naruto kept walking as Itachi came next to him. They walked in silence until they reached the blonds room. As he opened the door Naruto couldn't help but feel relieved to see his own room again. Before he could walk inside Itachi placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder and hardly noticed that the other winced at the touch.

"I'm glad you're back, brother." Naruto growled as Itachi smirked at the boy.

"Yeah rub it in, if you wanted me back so badly you would've picked me up like last time." He walked into his room and slammed the door shut in the Uchiha's face. Itachi couldn't help but hide a smile; Naruto was hardly ever so stressed after coming back from a mission. One way or the other, the blond was fuming.

**1,5 years later**

Sasuke sighed as he made his way back to his house throwing his ANBU mask to the side as he reached the kitchen. He grabbed a carton of milk out of the fridge and quickly emptied it. He tossed the carton in the garbage and sat down on the couch rubbing his face with both hands. He was tired and growled when he leaned too hard on his right shoulder, Sakura was going to kill him for not coming to her right away.

Just at that moment someone started knocking at the door and Sasuke stood up to open it only to look down at a fuming Sakura. He cautiously took a step backwards as she started yelling at him for not coming to tell her he was back. She roughly pushed him back onto the couch and started healing his shoulder.

"You're always worried when I come back from a mission." He hissed when Sakura slapped the back of his head and glared back at the pink haired girl. Sasuke rubbed the back of his head before standing up next to Sakura.

"I've been worried ever since you joined the ANBU, selfish bastard."

Sakura left 5 minutes later and Sasuke could finally relax again. Ever since the incident a few years ago he had gotten even colder towards people. In turn everyone started calling him a selfish bastard and he had gotten used to it. As he sat back down he couldn't help but recall a few memories.

~~~~~ **Flashback** ~~~~~

Sasuke watched as the blond stalked around in his room. He was still in bed because he had been sick, but was gradually getting better. One thing that kept him going was Naruto who came by every day. He was probably feeling guilty because it was his fault that Sasuke had gotten so sick. Sasuke didn't mind much, the other was good company.

"You know..." Naruto began "The only other person I know who gets better as fast as you is me" The blond suddenly had a serious expression and seemed to be thinking hard.

"Oh yeah and also It- uhh, another friend of mine. He's a lot like you." Sasuke raised an eyebrow and asked about his friend.

Naruto only shrugged and said there was not much to tell about him. Sasuke studied the other boy for a moment and shrugged off his suspicions. It almost seemed like Naruto was about to say his brother's name, Itachi. Finally deciding he imagined it he leaned back against his pillow.

"Why is he a lot like me then?"

Sputtering Naruto couldn't think of anything to say and just mumbled something. "Well, he has dark hair like you and you guys act similar I guess. Only you talk way more, he hardly opens his mouth to even say hi or whatever."

~~~~~ **End Flashback** ~~~~~

Knowing how stupid he was then Sasuke only shook his head and growled at the thought that he had been right after all. Of course he told himself he was young and foolish. His thoughts were broken when his front door flew open and Kiba, Shikamaru and Chouji came into his living room.

"Hey bastard you're finally back and you don't even tell us?!" Kiba flashed Sasuke a toothy grin and sat down next to the Uchiha.

"Were we interrupting something or did you just space out?" Shikamaru waved in front of Sasuke's face breaking his thoughts yet again. They started asking about how his mission had gone and Sasuke reassured them everything went fine. Shikamaru noticed something different in the posture of the Uchiha and noted to talk to him later.

* * *

There was a deep silence in the dark room where the men had gathered. They were waiting for their leader to arrive and some even seemed stressed. A few moments later another figure joined them in the room and greeted them. There was another short silence before the leader started speaking.

"As you all know, we have already obtained 6 of the Jinchuuriki and that as we speak, three of our members are after one of them."

A single member cleared his throat to indicate that he wanted to speak and was granted permission by the leader.

"Deidara, Tobi and Naruto might run into trouble. Is that why you sent the three of them after this particular Jinchuuriki?" A single snort was heard from another member, but several glares were shoot at him and he shrugged his shoulders.

"No not at all, I only sent Naruto with the other two because this discussion is going to be about our dear Naruto. Because it is our goal to obtain power through extracting the Demons from their vessels, but we have one problem. And that is young Naruto being one of them." Some small gasps were heard and the members started talking to each other beginning the discussion.

"He's pretty handy to have and all, but for power we do need him. Pity."

"Isn't there any other way?" Everyone turned to look at the person who had spoken so suddenly. Uchiha Itachi stepped forward, simply arguing about what should happen to the blond.

"He's too valuable to lose and even you know that Pein. We all know that without him we wouldn't even have already caught 6 of the Jinchuuriki. One thing I also know is how attached some of us have gotten to him."

Another silence followed as everyone thought about what the Uchiha had said, and everything had been true. Even Pein had taken a liking to the boy. He thought about it for a few moments before he started talking again.

"Fine, we will try to find a way to extract Kyuubi without taking Naruto's life, but if there's no other way…" His expression was enough for the other Akatsuki.

Nodding Pein took his leave and teleported out of the room. Some others followed his action, teleporting away. Itachi did as well and he was quickly standing on a mountain, looking over a large forest. He noticed Kisame next to him, but didn't react to the others presence. Even though he had forgotten most emotions long ago, he forcefully hoped there would be a way to save Naruto. He still saw him as his little brother even though they weren't related in any way.

Itachi caught a sight of blond hair from the corner of his eye and made his way down meet the three members, carrying a man along with them. Deidara immediately greeted the Uchiha hiding a slight blush as he approached. There was something about the man that was so intriguing and he almost felt his heart tear as the raven made his way to Naruto, who was carrying the Jinchuuriki.

The blond flashed a smirk as he dropped the man, who coughed as she collided with the ground. His gaze went up when he noticed Itachi was standing in front of him and flashed an even bigger smirk. The Uchiha studied the man for a moment before looking back at Naruto.

"Was one hard son-of-a-bitch to catch, never thought the six-tailed would be so tough."

Knowing the blond was exaggerating Itachi bent down to grab the demon vessel and walked alongside the others as Naruto starting bragging on how he had gotten him down with ease.

Deidara started arguing on how he had weakened him before Naruto stepped in. The two started bickering while Tobi was happily walking behind the others, when he started whistling Naruto and Deidara stopped arguing and were know only shooting angry glares at each other.

A few hours later Naruto slowly made his way outside, he had helped to extract the Demon this time and because of the Kyuubi's chakra everything had gone faster than usual. He sighed as he jumped up into the tree to stare at the star filled sky. It didn't take long before he noticed another presence close and turned to see Deidara on the roof.

Wanting to be alone he made no move to approach the other man. Deidara had also noticed the others presence, but left him alone to ponder in his own thoughts. Biting a fingernail he thought about a certain someone before cursing as he thought how close he was to Naruto. He would have to remind himself to ask the blond about Itachi. He hardly noticed as the Uchiha also appeared on the roof.

"Go- Good evening Itachi." Was all he could manage to say and his eyes followed the raven as he sat down next to him. Itachi only grunted in response as he looked up at the stars. Deidara gulped when he noticed how close the other was to him and prayed he wouldn't do something stupid. He gasped as the raven leaned over and he could feel his warm breath run down his neck.

He whispered something in the blonds' ear before leaning over further to place his lips on the others. Naruto nearly chocked holding his laughter when he saw Itachi lean over. He had suspected that Itachi had liked Deidara one way or the other and smirked at the sight of them making out on the roof.

Knowing he couldn't contain his laughter much longer and decided to surprise the two of them. He jumped over to the roof and giggled when they two didn't notice him right away. They looked up at the blond in front of them and Deidara yelped before blushing furiously. Naruto laughed at the sight of them and winked.

"Congratulations on hooking up!"

Quickly he jumped off the roof before Itachi decided to strangle him, he knew how much the Uchiha hated being interrupted and knew that he was going to have one pissed man in his room later that night. Instead Deidara came to his room still rather flushed. He was mumbling something about never being so embarrassed before. Naruto stopped him by placing his finger on Deidara's lips.

"I'm sorry because I know you've had a crush on me for a while and-"

Deidara was stopped again by Naruto who started shaking his hands. "No stop Deidara, you should know that I've gotten over that like, three years ago?" Deidara nodded and tried to smile. Naruto only smirked and punched the others shoulder, telling him everything was ok.

'_As if kit, we both know you're lying.' _

Naruto winced as Kyuubi started talking and quickly dismissed Deidara. '_I know you still think about him at night, when you're alone.' _

"Shut up!" Naruto covered his face with his pillow as he heard the demon laugh in his mind. There was no way he was even going to deny what the fox had said and chose to ignore further remarks. It didn't take long before he fell asleep.

* * *

Naruto woke up when his alarm started ringing. He groaned as he looked at the time, set on 7:15. He dressed and made his way through the hideout before stopping as Itachi called his name. He turned around and looked at the Uchiha as he explained they were all going to leave to catch the Jinchuuriki in the Sand.

"Why all of us?" He crossed his arms as the older man started telling him that this one was the Kazekage of the village and they would need a distraction to get to him. Naruto smirked as he asked when they were planning to leave and Itachi only shrugged and left Naruto alone again.

Sighing Naruto went to get some fresh air, it was probably going to be a long week.

* * *

Sasuke groaned as someone started knocking on his door and he got up off his bed before walking downstairs to open the door. Sakura was on his doorstep and told him that the Hokage wanted to see him in an hour, not earlier and not later. Sakura then left and Sasuke closed the door before sighing.

An hour later he was in the Hokage's room with a couple of other ANBU.

"You all are going to the Sand, there have been rumors that the Akatsuki are planning to try and kidnap the Kazekage and has asked for aid. I have also heard that a man from Kirigakure was kidnapped. He was the holder of the six-tailed demon."

Tsunade explained that they were to stay for a month and that they were expected by the end of the week. She told them to prepare themselves and then dismissed them. Sasuke waited until everyone was gone before he turned back to the Hokage, who was already prepared for his question.

"Is there a chance that you know… If Naruto was amongst the Akatsuki who kidnapped that man?"

"Yes Sasuke, he also aided in capturing more people." She watched the boy gulp as he slowly nodded before leaving her. Shizune entered the room and asked Tsunade if it was smart to send Sasuke along with the others because of the chance he would see Itachi and Naruto. She sighed when the woman winked and asked for some sake. _Typical... _Shizune thought as she went to get some sake.

Sasuke looked over the Sand village as he stood on top of the Kazekage mansion. There wasn't much to see except houses and sand. He never really liked the sand country way too hot for his own taste. It felt like he was melting in his ANBU garments and his mask wasn't helping either.

He slowly made his way down and jumped inside through an open window. He watched as Gaara and Shikamaru turned to him and his onyx eyes collided with Gaara's emerald ones. Shikamaru crossed his arms and huffed.

"Took you long enough, this is all such a drag because it's way too hot."

Watching his companion leave the room Sasuke leaned against the wall and slipped off his mask, he wouldn't be needing it in here. Gaara knew who he was anyway and he felt relief as he ran his hand through his raven hair. They had already been there for 3 days and nothing had happened yet.

"So Gaara, how's life treating you?" Sasuke looked up and eyed the Kazekage, who wasn't much of a speaker.

"Fine, the only problem is that the Akatsuki is probably coming to take me and extract the demon from my body which will definitely kill me. But aside from that nothing new." The red head shrugged and stood up and offered Sasuke a glass of water, which he gratefully took.

Gaara frowned as he sat back down. "I also heard that a certain blond was spotted outside the village yesterday."

Sasuke almost felt his heart stop and coughed causing water to drip out of his mouth. He couldn't help but stare at the wall him front of him. The thought of seeing Naruto again, he really couldn't help but feel his heart jump for joy as soon as the words had left Gaara's mouth.

Then the door opened and Temari entered the room greeting the two men. Gaara immediately stood up and glared at his sister. "I don't feel like going Temari. Now go away."

The two started arguing and forgot Sasuke for the time being until he spoke. "Just go Gaara, better than being locked up in this damn room for the rest of the day. I don't mind going with you at all, Kiba's downstairs anyway he'll probably come too."

Temari's mouth dropped open as the Uchiha finished talking and nearly gripped her hair in confusion. Was Sasuke talking? In full sentences? She couldn't believe her ears.

"Since when did you start talking so much?"

"Hn." Was her only reply. She sighed – she was once again back to base one, replies in the form of grunts and shrugs.

Leading the way Temari walked out of the room and Gaara and Sasuke followed her, after said raven had put his mask back on. He explained to Kiba that they were going somewhere and the brunet gladly joined them. Akamaru followed his owner as they walked off. Suddenly Gaara stopped and said he had forgotten something in his room.

Sasuke asked where it was and went back to grab a big yellow envelope. "_What in the world is in this thing, it's heavy!" _Jumping out of the window again he joined the rest, but the second they started walking again several explosions erupted through the city and villagers were running in panic.

"Kiba stay with Gaara!"

Said man nodded and Akamaru barked in agreement. Sasuke knew exactly what was happening, the Akatsuki had finally come. He hoped he wouldn't encounter his brother but there was a small voice inside him that knew if Naruto was there too he would be with Itachi. All Sasuke had to do was find them to drive them away.

* * *

**Lol don't feel like commenting.  
As you know reviews keep me going! -Click that review button plz!-**


	6. Conflict In the Sand Second Encounter

**_[Edit: 02-09-2009]_  
I'm back again people! Now feel free to skip my rambling and read.  
****To Zandamh: I don't like the idea of Naruto dying either, so I of course found a way around it^^  
**_**Disclaimer: Nothing of Naruto is mine, only my own perverted fantasies... *sniffs***  
_"..." Talking  
_"..." Thinking_

_'...' Kyuubi in Naruto's head_

**"..." Kyuubi speaking**

* * *

Running through the streets of the Sand village Sasuke occasionally stopped to help people save others from burning houses and stopped momentarily as he saw Kiba with Gaara as they tried to stop the flames.

"Damn it where are those bastards?"

Sasuke growled as he quickened his pace again and dashed through the village, he almost didn't see an Akatsuki robe in the corner of his eyes and stopped before charging at him shielding his katana. He gasped as the person turned into smoke as soon as he had landed a hit.

"_A shadow clone?"_

Sensing something Sasuke turned around only to be hit in the face. He staggered backwards and looked up see Ino in front of him. He blinked once more and started shouting at the girl.

"No Sasuke you don't understand! He was right behind you; he must have sensed me and teleported somewhere else!"

Still not believing the girl's stupidity he told her to go help other people before dashing through the streets again. The sky was filled with smoke and it started getting darker as the sun started to set.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" Sasuke but his bottom lip as he jumped onto a building to get a better view of the village.

Meanwhile Naruto and Itachi were fighting side by side as they made their way deeper into the village. Smirking Naruto preformed some hand seals and several shadow clones appeared next to him. He launched forward and the clones did the same as he fought off some Sand shinobi. Within him Kyuubi was enjoying every second of everything.

"Naruto."

The blond turned around to face Itachi and nodded as they started to run again. '_I can feel him kit! Just a little further!'_

Naruto nodded once more as he listened to the fox, he started running in the direction he was leading him in when they were stopped by an ANBU.

Growling Naruto jumped forward to attack the man.

"Don't get in the way!" He landed next to him and suddenly couldn't move anymore. Struggling to try and move again he heard the ANBU sigh behind his mask. "You're way too troublesome Naruto."

Smirking Naruto remembered who this person was and chuckled before looking at Shikamaru. He also remembered that he always used Shadow Replication Jutsu, the trap Naruto had just walked in.

"Tell me Shikamaru, how do you plan on stopping me with this? We both know it'll wear off in about 5 minutes. And don't forget dear Itachi-san is with me."

Looking behind him Shikamaru stared into blood red eyes and fell to the ground, immediately releasing the jutsu holding Naruto.

"Thanks, we need to hurry now that we know the Hidden Leaf's here too."

It didn't take long before they found the person they were looking for; it really surprised Naruto that the man was actually helping the people.

He could never imagine doing such a thing for Konoha. Then another ANBU appeared in front of Itachi and smirking he looked at Naruto.

"This one's mine"

----

As soon as he spotted two Akatsuki moving to where Gaara was Sasuke jumped over the rooftops, some still burning to go and aid him and Kiba. There wasn't a chance Kiba could hold them off for long and Sasuke knew he had to get there as soon as possible.

Jumping off one of the roofs he landed right next to the Akatsuki members, but hadn't identified them yet. He watching as an ANBU fell to his knees as one of them had hit him. He ran over to aid him when a yellow flash ran past him and he nearly fell over. Looking around he gasped as he caught sight of who it was.

"Naruto..."

Not knowing what to do Sasuke took his mask off and stepped forward only to get a glare from the blond in front of him. He didn't know if it was real and gulped before opening his mouth. "Naruto. I-It's me Sasuke."

His gaze was met with blank blue eyes holding no emotions at all.

"Naruto say something! Please." The blond preformed some hand seals and suddenly appeared in front of Sasuke, so close Sasuke could feel his breath run over his face.

"You're a fool to think I still care for you."

Naruto brought his right hand up and placed two fingers on Sasuke's forehead causing the raven to stiffen and his eyes fluttered shut. Who knew what was going to happen now, not even Naruto knew but he trusted the fox and smirked as Itachi appeared next to him who raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected Naruto to use this technique on Sasuke and he watched as cuts appeared all over the other Uchihas body.

*In Sasuke's Mind*

_Sasuke franticly looked around, there wasn't anything here. All he could see was endless black and he started panicking. Suddenly he caught something in the corner of his eye and turned to see what it was. He gulped when he noticed the person walk towards him and as soon as he could see Sasuke studied the man._

_He looked almost like Naruto, only his hair was red and his eyes were blood red and silted. He also had whisker marks on his cheeks only his were darker and bigger. As soon as he noticed the boy studying him he chuckled. _

"_So Uchiha Sasuke do you already know who I am?"_

"_N-Naruto?" No it couldn't be, there was no way this person was Naruto. Chuckling the man threw his head backwards and then eyed Sasuke again. _

"_Half true. You may know me as Kyuubi No Kitsune or Demon Fox, whatever you mortals call me."_

_Sasuke's eyes widened in shock. Know he knew why the man had looked so much like Naruto. Before he knew it he was fighting the man – or rather the fox in human form – and was seriously losing. He panted as he cradled his right arm, cuts all over his body and he could feel himself getting weaker and weaker. He winced as Kyuubi kicked him._

_The fox smirked down at the shaking Uchiha_

"_Usually kit lets me kill people when he uses this Jutsu, but something in him won't let me go that far. Pity though, but now I can have some fun and watch you scream." _

_----_

The two Akatsuki watched as more and more cuts appeared on the boy in front of them and Itachi looked at Naruto who had his eyes shut, but was further totally calm. They both looked to the side when someone shouted Sasuke's name.

"There's the target, you go Itachi-san I can't let go yet." The raven nodded as he charged towards Gaara.

Kiba on the other hand only wanted to get Sasuke away from Naruto because he knew Gaara could take care of himself for a while. He threw a punch towards Naruto, who easily stopped it with his unoccupied hand and tossed Kiba. The brunet gasped as he slammed into a wall but smirked at the same time.

"Now Akamaru!"

Naruto turned to see a dog run towards him and gave him a body slam.

"_Fuck! I've lost contact, stupid dog!" _He could almost immediately hear the fox groan inside him as he landed on the ground snarling at him that he wasn't done yet.

"I know, I know. But we've got a rodent problem on our hands." He wiped some blood from the corner of his mouth and turned to look at Kiba who had grabbed Sasuke and had placed him on Akamaru's back.

The blond growled as they took off but had to jump aside as several sand needles flew towards him. Naruto leaped in the air and rebounded some sand. He knew it was finally time to end it, this had taken more time then they had originally planned and he formed several hand seals.

Coughing Sasuke slowly opened his eyes and stared at a pale white ceiling. He knew where he was and turned his head to see if there was anyone with him. His eyes caught brown hair and a big dog; of course he should've known Kiba would be with him. He slowly sat up and looked outside.

"Kiba, wake up!"

The dog lover fell off his chair and landed on top of his dog that opened one eye. Kiba stood back up and looked at a frowning Sasuke and nervously chuckled.

"You're awake. It's about damn time bastard, the others are already back in Konoha." Sasuke face went emotionless as Kiba started stuttering again.

Suddenly it hit him. "Kiba where are Naruto and Itachi?! Are they still here? And is Gaara ok, they didn't take him right? Oh my god what happened to me?!"

The brunet cautiously stepped forward and kneeled down next to Sasuke's bed and started to explain everything, from the point Naruto's fingers connected with Sasuke's forehead until the point that they had taken Gaara. Kiba gulped as Sasuke eyes widened. He braced himself for what was coming as soon as Sasuke started shouting at him telling him what a shit face he was and the raven started losing it.

"Damn it Sasuke shut up and calm the fuck down!"

Both heads turned towards the door as Sakura came into the room. It was easy to see how stressed she was and she came to sit down next to Sasuke and Kiba and explained how council members from all over the ninja continent were having a series of meetings the next couple of days to see what they should do about the Akatsuki.

"We don't know what they are up too, but it's got to be bad"

They talked for a while before a nurse came in to check up on Sasuke. A few hours later he was released from the hospital, but was advised to go home straight away. He did exactly so and left later that day with Sakura and Kiba. His face expression was emotionless, but on the inside he was panicking. What would happen now that Gaara had also been captured?

Naruto stood inside the cell they had placed Gaara in. He was ordered to guard the Jinchuuriki until all the members had returned. Some still hadn't come back yet and they were waiting for them to. He studied the red haired man who was sitting in a corner of the room and was glaring daggers at Naruto.

They had taken his sand gourd when he was unconscious and he felt rather naked without it. "So I hear you are one too."

The blond blinked as he turned his head, full attention towards Gaara.

"Yes, but what does that matter to you?" Naruto snarled inwardly as Gaara nodded and stood up. "Then why are you with them if they want us? If they remove the demon you know we'll die right?"

Smirking Naruto shook his head as he stepped closer. "They've already found a way to do that without killing me dear Gaara."

Raising a non-existed eyebrow Gaara stopped moving. Of course they would do that, he was helping them after all. Then Gaara started asking him why he had joined them and asked if he had even been lonely and treated like a monster. Naruto chuckled; this man knew what he had felt before.

"I might have, but does that matter to you?"

Gaara shook his head, this kid was really oblivious. "Doesn't that mean we should stick together? You know take care of each other?"

"You mean us? Take care of... Oh my god you really crack me up!" Naruto started laughing viciously and gripped his stomach as his laughter became louder. He then took some deep breaths and calmed himself down.

"Let's make a deal, if someone doesn't come within the next 5 minutes I'll help you. If not, you'll have to accept your fate like the other Jinchuuriki. Deal?"

He held out his hand and just when Gaara raised his own the door swung open and another man came into the room. "You knew he was coming… Bastard."

Naruto smirked and looked over his shoulder. Kisame walked into the room and looked at their intertwined hands. The man also noticed that gleam in Naruto's eyes, something they had rarely seen in a long while.

"Naruto, you need to get laid."

Shocked Naruto let go of Gaara's hand are turned around to face Kisame who was smirking rather evilly. "No way you pedophile. If you mean you I'll pass with pleasure, go torture Tobi or Hidan will you?"

"Boo you're no fun at all Naruto-kun." Kisame smirked as Naruto growled. "But I came to help you bring that guy to his death."

Gaara cautiously watched over Naruto's features, but nothing changed at all. The boy stood perfectly still and his face was impassionate, making it impossible to read. He nodded and grabbed chakra shackles and put them on Gaara. He watched as the other Jinchuuriki winced and fell to the floor, only barely conscious. Naruto motioned Kisame over and then they picked Gaara up and dragged him out of the dungeon.

"You know, Sasori came back today."

"Isn't that nice? He's been gone for, what 7 months?" Naruto asked as they walked through the corridors.

"Yup. Said he wanted to talk to you after we finish this." Kisame looked at Gaara and smirked when they reached the room they were walking towards.

They stepped inside and placed Gaara in the middle of them room, where beams lifted him off the ground and then took their places. It was going to be a long night for all of them.

When the process was finished the corpse fell to the ground with a thud and the Akatsuki members looked down at it.

"Who's gonna get rid of it?"

"I will" Naruto raised his hand and jumped down and picked up the corpse with ease. He told them he'd be back in an hour and left the hideout. Naruto then made sure he was far enough to help this guy. After their talk he had thought that Gaara had been right, but life was almost never fair and didn't go the way you wanted it to.

When Gaara had said they should stick together and take care of each other he was almost tempted to give in. Then he would finally be with someone who knew how he truly felt. Naruto placed the corpse on the ground and kneeled in front of it, placing his hands on the chest. He closed his eyes and murmured some words when red chakra surrounded his hands. He coughed and leaned over when he was done and looked at Gaara, who was breathing again.

"You're right; we should care for each other, but not stick together… Do well with this second chance." Naruto wiped blood from the side of his mouth and looked down at Gaara who slowly opened his eyes.

"W-why?" He managed to ask.

"Because I wanted to." Naruto stood up and held out his hand and helped Gaara stand back up.

"You're still too weak to do things by yourself though; I'll take you close to Konoha. But you'll have to walk the rest alone. And… Forget about me ok? I'll be fine."

Gaara looked at Naruto who was smiling and nodded. Only not intending to forget the helpful blonde. He knew someone who longed to talk to the boy, even if only once. Uchiha had the right to know and so Gaara would tell him everything.

They came to a clearing that Gaara recognized and Naruto set him down. "This is where I leave you. Bye Gaara, have a nice life!"

The blonde smiled as he waved and ran off. It was risky he had done that and if it wasn't for the Kyuubi he would have died when he brought Gaara back from the dead. He just considered the Kazekage lucky and a wise guy who certainly knew how to talk.

----

Gaara was staring at the place the blonde had been standing mere seconds ago and decided he would have to start walking towards Konoha. In the distance he could see the walls, so it couldn't be that far. He slowly stood up as he tested how strong he was and took small steps and trudged towards the Hidden Leaf.

It didn't take long before he finally approached the front gates and as soon as the guards saw who he was they rushed over. An ANBU who watched the scene quickly made his way to the Hokage's room and burst into the room and dodged a bottle that was thrown to his head. The Hokage didn't seem like she was in the mood and her gaze sent him a message to get out. He ignored it and stepped forward.

"Hokage-sama. The Kazekage has somehow reached our gates and is very much alive." He watched her run out of the room and followed her closely.

"Gaara! Are you ok?"

Tsunade looked next to her and spotted Sakura, Kiba, Akamaru and Sasuke who had arrived back from the Suna only minutes ago. Sakura was kneeling next to him and quickly looked over him.

"He isn't that bad Hokage, only he is exhausted due to low chakra flow. He should get better in a matter of days and the return to the Suna, but Shukaku's presence is gone…"

"Doesn't that mean he's supposed to be dead?" Kiba asked Sakura as she helped Gaara stand back up.

"I was dead Inuzuka, but someone helped me. I guess he knew what I felt in a way."

"But no one can perform that jutsu without dying! It isn't possible unless…" Sakura stopped herself and quickly looked over to Sasuke who seem to be frozen, his mouth slightly open and eyes grazed over.

Tsunade and Sakura then took Gaara towards the hospital and Kiba and Akamaru took their leave. Sasuke still couldn't believe Gaara was truly still alive, he said he had died and Sasuke only knew one person who could have done it. He waited patiently until he was able to go into Gaara's room for a private talk.

He walked into the room and sat down in a chair in the corner of the room. The Kazekage was sleeping at the moment, but that didn't bother the Uchiha. Even if he had to stay for days, he would wait until the redhead finally woke up. As he looked over the man's features he couldn't help but notice how peaceful he seemed. Probably because the raccoon demon wasn't sealed in him anymore Gaara could finally sleep in peace without having to worry about Shukaku taking control over him. His hand gripped the sheets as he woke up and opened his eyes.

"Uchiha."

"Kazekage, I need to ask you a question." Sasuke heard Gaara sigh and watched as he sat up.

"I knew you would come sooner or later, but that doesn't mean I want to talk and tell you what you want to know. But because you are who you are I might consider it if you tell me what you're planning."

Gaara's eyes narrowed as he watched Sasuke shift his position in the chair. The man seemed troubled and that's why he probably didn't feel the presence on the other side of the door.

"Because of who I am? I'll take that as an answer. It's no doubt that whoever saved you was Naruto, since you now know where the Akatsuki's hideout is I will ask you to tell me where it is so I can try to reason with the Kyuubi container."

"Container? So, the infamous cold bastard of the Hidden Leaf claims that the boy who is his obsession is only a container of a demon?" Gaara knew Sasuke was only trying to act serious and smirked. If he wouldn't tell him where the hideout was the raven would go search for it himself without thinking twice.

He swung his feet off the bed and slowly stood up. "Very well, they kept me prisoner in an old house close to the border of the Fire Country. It'll be hard to get through even for you."

Suddenly the door flung open and a furious Kiba stomped into the room and grabbed Sasuke's collar as he lifted him out of the chair and pushed him against the wall. He growled eyes filled with rage as Sasuke only glared at the dog lover.

"You idiot! I can't believe you're even going to try! If you couldn't do it almost 2 years ago, why do you think he'll listen to you this time?" Kiba let go of Sasuke, who gracefully landed on his feet.

It was silent for a moment before Kiba sighed and plopped down into the chair where Sasuke had been sitting.

He muttered something under his breath about fucking Uchihas and unwanted heart attacks. Sasuke quickly slipped out of the room deciding he needed to get ready to leave early the next morning.

"Inuzuka, promise me you'll keep an eye on him."

"Way ahead of you boss." Kiba smirked as Gaara sat back down on his bed.

"Now buzz off. I will not tolerate your presence while I'm sleeping." Kiba bowed and quietly made his way out of the room. Seconds later soft snores filled the quiet room.

----

The next morning Sasuke stood up at the crack of dawn and grabbed his pack. He had decided not to wear his ANBU uniform in case it would alarm other people. The guards had just left the front gates to switch shifts and Sasuke quickly slipped through the gates before the new ones arrived. As soon as he was outside the village he picked up his pace.

Kiba followed him as good as he could, he had left Akamaru at home – to the dog's chagrin – because it would be easier to follow the raven. He concealed his chakra and they reached the border in record time. Sasuke carefully looked around avoiding traps he located with his Sharingan and he knew he was getting closer.

It didn't take long before he reached a small clearing. A soft hum of music was carried by the wind and he catiously made his way towards the sound.

Suddenly he was grabbed from behind and a big sword was placed by his throat. Sasuke shivered as he felt the persons hot breath run over his neck. Kiba was watching in the distance and made himself ready to strike.

"Well, well, well. Look at who we have here. We knew someone was coming, but I didn't expect the youngest Uchiha." The man laughed as Sasuke struggled to get out of his grip, but it was useless.

"Now you can come out Tobi." A man with an orange mask appeared out of the bushes with a radio on his shoulder. Sasuke remembered this man, he was with the other blond Akatsuki when Naruto had left Konoha.

Kiba was about to jump to Sasuke's help when the three suddenly disappeared from the clearing. He quickly jumped up from his hiding spot and frantically looked around to see if he could smell the Uchiha anywhere. He fell to his knees after searching for half an hour.

"Oh my god! Gaara's going to maul me if I come back without him! No I'm too young to die!!" Kiba gripped his hair in frustration before going to search again.

* * *

**This concludes the sixth chapter, hope you enjoyed. I'll be back soon my sweet readers *laughes evilly* Please review!**

**Sasuke: Is it just me or is she getting creepier after every chapter she posts?  
Naruto: *nods* I agree, while we wait for her to calm down. Let's go have some fun!  
Sasuke: *smirks* Fun?  
Naruto: Sasuke are you ok, you look. EEP *runs off*  
Me: I rub off on you  
Sasuke: Hn.**


	7. NOTICE!

**Hello my loving readers of 'How It Could've Been'!**

**I'm sorry to say that I am putting this fan fiction on HIATUS. I'm busy with three other fics and I don't have any inspiration for this particular one anymore.  
I will, once I've finished** _Walking Away_**, **Transformation** and _Demons and Vampires_ I might find more inspiration to start this one again.**

**Of course I will edit the chapters and load up the newer versions A.S.A.P. I actually already had chapter 7 done, but we got a virus and it deleted almost all of my files. I remember how it went but don't feel like typing it out again yet. Once I feel like writing this fic again you will be the first to know!**

**-TDaL**


	8. AN

As everyone must have heard weird things have been going on at FF . net Fics being deleted and authors being banned.

I for one am going to move my fics over to other sites and update on as long as I still can.

This is really short, and might be shocking to some fo you. But I encourage that you do the same.

You can find me and my fics at: http: / www . fictionesque . com /profile/TDaL and http: / anime . adultfanfiction .net / ?no=1296868973


End file.
